The Caves Express was a special passenger rail service that operated between 1929 to 1942 on the Blue Mountains Line in New South Wales, Australia[1].
The railway from Sydney to the Blue Mountains enjoyed a monopolistic position in the early 1920s as much of the road from Parramatta onwards was unsealed. In 1927, a large improvement came about with the superseding of the route from Emu Plains to Blaxland, via Lennox Bridge[2], with a sealed highway, partially using the old railway formation over the Knapsack Viaduct. An effect of the improved road was to take some traffic away from the railway.
In order to stem the decrease in passengers taking place and with a desire to even improve patronage beyond previous figures, the N.S.W.G.R. introduced the Caves Express on 11 November 1929. On that day, 3307 of the C32 class hauled the first Caves Express out of Sydney's Central station sydney[3]. The point to point time was scheduled at 2 hours 27 minutes, the timing being achieved by the train being limited to 5 carriages with a total weight of just 125 tons [113.4t] and the elimination of many intermediate stops.
In November, 1931, the C35 class was assigned to the express. In July, 1933, three locomotives of the class were painted in Caledonian Blue at the N.S.W.G.R. Eveleigh Workshops. In the summer of 1936, the express was taken over by the bigger C36 class. Some of the fastest runs on the Blue Mountains were witnessed on the Caves Express.
However, in 1942, because of World War II, the Caves Express was suspended. It had a mediocre revival over the years 1953 to 1956 when it re-appeared in the timetables for Fridays and Saturdays only, running to a semi-fast schedule in the Down, or outbound, direction only.
In 2008, the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum ran a Caves Express revival train, to help promote The Great Train Weekend in Mount Victoria. The train was diesel hauled as far as Penrith by vintage diesels 4520 and 4490. Preserved steam locomotives 3526 and 3642 then took the train up the 1 in 31 climb to Katoomba station, where one engine was detached and the other took the train to Mount Victoria station. Special shuttles to the Clarence Colliery were also held.